Victoria Nichio
October 21, 2013
EDC 102
Philosophers/Schools
I’d have to say that I agree with all the realists in the world. Realism is the school or philosophy that holds that reality, knowledge, and value that exist independent of the human mind. Realists focus more on the physical world and using your senses to obtain knowledge. Realists emphasize a subject centered curriculum meaning a teacher would have background knowledge on a subject. I completely agree with this philosophy because we learn through our sense experiences the moment we are born. This philosophy revolves around common sense because common sense shows that we assume objects are independent from the mind in which we discover these things by using our senses. This is the best way to teach survival skills so we can achieve a successful happy life. I like the way realists also teach because they teach a subject that utilizes the learners interest by relating the material to the learners experiences. Personally I obtain knowledge better when someone can relate a subject to something I can relate to and then I can explain and compare the facts.
Existentialism is to a point important to the world of education. Existentialist’s reality lies within the individual. Basically saying we define ourselves by the choices we make. This perspective focuses on freedom and the development of the individual as we make meaning to our life. It states that existence precedes essence, which is to say there is no inherent purpose in life. This freedom allows complete control over our destinies and suggests that we are isolated from society. I found reading about existentialism very interesting because I know at some point there needs to be regulations but it makes sense if you think about it as a way on how you should live your life. Existentialists are the people that travel the world and look like they are actually living because they break the rules. I think it’s very important to teach existentialism because this is what society lacks now-a-days. People should be taught from a young age that you can grow up to be whatever you want and do whatever you want to make your life worth living. It revolves completely around the individual to make their own choice, whether good or bad, and I think that is a really interesting way of thinking.
The philosopher I favorite the most is Aristotle, the realist. He thought that ideas are found through the study of matter which I completely agree on. Everything we have learned today is through experience and using our senses to learn how to do anything. Today, most classes use this way of teaching especially at a young age. This is a way people can teach themselves independently and I think that’s very important because you learn from experience the most.